Using a personal narrative as grounding, three theories create a base for understanding bodies as texts that are read. Ricoeur's (1971/2007) hermeneutic interpretivist theory of bodily action as text maintains that during real-time events, an observer can interpret a person's action for meaning. De Lauretis's (1984) theory of imaging contends that people derive meaning from bodily images based on observer's expectations, the image itself and the context, all which are driven by socio-cultural beliefs that are present before and during the reading. A piece of Gee's (1996, 1999) theory of Discourse proposes cultural models as symbols of what is considered normal, in this case normal for a teacher, as a tool to organise the meanings that people develop in reference to bodily action and image. The social theories (that is, ideologies) that shape the cultural models exist before, during and after the real-time events and affect who and what is supported or marginalised. These three theories, used in conjunction, have potential to guide better understanding of how women teachers' bodies, who comprise the majority of the teaching profession and have a history of objectification, are continuously read by themselves and others in school contexts.